Automatic cigarette lighter



F. MONASTERIO 3,292,817

AUTOMATIC CIGARETTE LIGHTER 4 Sheets-Sheet l Dec. 20, 1966 Filed Sept. 2, 1964 INVENTOR Francesco Monasferzq A ORNEYS 1956 F. MONASTERIO 3,

AUTOMATIC CIGARETTE LIGHTER Filed Sept. 2, 1964 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 i i INV ENT OR Francesca Monasler i 0 N VY H 1966 F. MONASTERIO 3,

AUTOMATIC CIGARETTE LIGHTER Filed Sept. 2. 1964 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 INV ENT OR Francesca Manzslen'a ORNEYS Dec. 20, 1966 F. MONASTERIO 3,292,817

AUTOMATIC CIGARETTE LIGHTER Filed Sept. 2, 1964 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Francesca Mamsierz'o TI'ORNEX United States Patent 3,292,817 AUTOMATIC CIGARETTE LIGHTER Francesco Monasterio, 4722 39th Place, Long Island City, N.Y. 11101 Filed Sept. 2, 1964, Ser. No. 394,085 7 Claims. (Cl. 221-145) This invention relates to a device which eliminates the necessity for a person to hold a match or other lighting device to a cigarette in order to light it. With this invention a person desiring a pre-lighted cigarette need only manipulate one actuating knob and wait a few seconds whereupon a lighted cigarette will be provided. This invention is particularly useful for persons who desire to smoke but whose attention and hands are occupied, e.g. automobile drivers, and for whom the lighting of a cigarette by holding a match, etc., to a cigarette held in the mouth would entail a dangerous distraction.

It is therefore an object of this invention to provide an automatic cigarette lighter capable of lighting a cigarette without a person having to puff upon it and without having to hold a lighting means to one end thereof.

It is another object of this invention to provide a cigarette lighter which requires a minimum of human actuation in order for it to provide a lighted cigarette.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a cigarette lighter which minimizes the amount of attention a person has to give to the obtaining of a lit cigarette.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a cigarette lighter which incorporates a supply of cigarettes and thereby eliminates the need for a person to search for -a cigarette.

These and other objects will be evident from the description which follows and the annexed drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a top plan view of the device;

FIG. 2 is fragmentary top plan view corresponding to FIG. 1 but with parts omitted for clarity and showing the push rod in its pushed-in position;

FIG. 3 is similar to FIG. 2 but shows the mechanism in a later stage of operation;

FIG. 4 is a vertical transverse sectional view taken along line 44 of FIG. 1 and showing the elements in position as a cigarette is being dropped into place for being lighted;

FIG. 5 is a front elevation of the cigarette holding tray;

FIG. 6 is a horizontal section along line 6-6 of FIG. 4;

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary isometric view of the lifting rod connected to the push rod;

FIG. 8 is a fragmentary elevation similar to FIG. 4 with parts omitted and showing the cigarette discharge mechanism;

FIG. 9 is a side elevation taken along line 9-9 of FIG. 1 and also showing the discharge mechanism;

FIG. 10 is a vertical section taken along line 10-10 V ofFIG. 1;

FIG. 11 is a longitudinal vertical section through the cigarette guide taken along line 1111 of FIG. 2.

Primarily, the device comprises a mounting base C adapted to mount the device in any desired location, such as in an automobile dashboard, in on airplane, in a boat, or on a table in a home. Upon the base C can be mounted all the essential elements so that the entire device comprises a single assembled unit with base C serving as a common supporting structure for all other elements of the device.

The structural features of the device will be clearly understood from the following description of the operation of the device which description includes specific structural clarifications Where necessary.

3,292,817 Patented Dec. 20, 1966 In order to obtain a lit cigarette from this device, a person need only push actuator rod 1 inwardly until it is held by the engagement of spring latch 3 with the perpendicular rear side of tooth 2 which is rigid with rod 1. A person may then release rod 1 and after a few seconds a lit cigarette. will appear at the end of guide 4.

At one end of rod 1 is an electrical contact device 5 which, when tooth 2 is engaged by latch 3, closes an electrical circuit to motor 6 and to the igniter element 7. The motor drives a gear train A. Near one end of the rod 1 is fixedly attached thereto an element 9 having a hump 10. When rod 1 is pushed inwardly the hump 10 causes lifter lever 11 to pivot about pin 12 from the dashed-line position to the solid line position of FIG. 4 whereby prongs 13 on the end of lever 11 will protrude upwardly through openings 14 in cigarette case 15. Prongs 13 will lift a cigarette over the level of the barrier 16, which is part of case 15, and by force of gravity the cigarette will fall into the holder 17 and will be in the holder when the contact device has just closed the circuit to the motor 6 and to the igniter 7.

At this moment the motor starts to run and it drives the gear train A. As the gear train begins to turn, it rotates cam 41 and causes it to disengage from lever 43 so that second spring latch means 44 moves into the path of the lower or front side (as seen in FIG. 1) of a second tooth 45 on rod 1.

The gear train A drives the air pump 18 which alternately draws air from and discharges air into the pulling cylinder 19 through air hose 19a. The gear tr-ain also drives the levers20 and 21. These levers are each connected at one end to eccentrics 22 and 23, respectively, which are rotated by gear 24. The levers are connected at their opposite ends to sleeves 25 and 26, rsepectively. These sleeves are arranged to slide linearly on fixed track 27. Sleeves 25 and 26 carry pulling cylinder 19 and igniter element 7, respectively. Since eccentrics 22, 23 are opposed at degrees to each other, rotation of gear 24 will cause sleeves 25 and 26 to always move in opposite directions. That is, during a first 180 degree rotation of gear 24, the sleeves will move towards each other, and during the second 180 degree rotation of gear 24 these sleeves will move away from each other.

The relationship of the moving parts is such that, after the cigarette has fallen into holder 17, the gear 24 rotates so as to move sleeves 25 and 26 towards each other whereupon pufling cylinder 19 slides over one end of the cigarette and igniter element 7 simultaneously contacts the opposite end of the cigarette. The simultaneous pulling on one end and heating of the other causes the cigarette to light and as the gear 24 continues to rotate, the sleeves then move away from each other.

The igniter element 7 is connected to an electrical power source through wires 7a. The igniter element 7 is elastically mounted on sleeve 26 by means of spring 7b so as to avoid that element 7 crush the cigarette end during the lighting period.

The gear train A also rot-ates a second rotatable cam 28, and this cam 'actuates lever element 29 which in turn is pivotably mounted on pivot means 30. The relationship between the gear train A, cam 28, and lever 29 is such that as the sleeves 25 and 26 free the cigarette, cam 28 pivots and pushes lever 29 counterclockwise (as seen in FIG. 1) so that link 31, which is connected through appropriate rneans at its end 31a to lever 29, actuates the cigarette discharge mechanism B.

Mechanism B comprises a U-shaped yoke 32 (see FIG. 1) having one leg 32a pivotally connected to one end of link 31. Yoke 32 is pivotably mounted to base C by pivot means 33. The other leg 32b of yoke 32 bears against a horizontal lug 34a of .a second yoke 34 which is pivotably mounted at 35. One leg 34b of yoke 34 is connected through appropriate linkage 36a to a gripping plate 36 which is hinged at 37 to the rigid track 27. The other leg 340 of yoke 34 has rigidly affixed thereto a guide 60 within which one leg of an L-shaped element 61 is slidably fitted. A spring 62 :biases element 61 upwardaly relative to guide 60. Leg 340 comprises a pivot means 63 upon which is pivoted an element 64. It should here be noted that pivot means 35 is fixedly supported upon the base C by means of rigid column 65 which also comprises a rigid pin 66 extending therefrom.

As will best be seen in FIGS. 8 and 9, the opposite ends of L-shaped element 61 respectively abut one pivoted side of element 64 vand one end of a pusher element 38. After the cigarette has been lit and the sleeves 25, 26 have moved away firom each other the cam 28 will pivot lever 29 which will act through elements 31 and 32 so as to cause yoke 34 to pivot about 35 whereupon one leg 34b of yoke 34 will upwardly pivot the gripping plate 36 about hinge 37 and the other leg 340 of yoke 34 will simultaneously carry element 61 against pusher element 38 (see FIG. 8). This wilrl move the end 39 of the pusher element 38 transversely across the cigarette holder 17 while pushing the cigarette ahead of the end 39. The pusher element 38 is normally biased to the position of FIG. 4 by the spring 67 which is compressed when the pusher element is moved as shown in FIG. 8.

The pusher element 38 is integrally attached to a guard element 40 which comprises a guard rail 40a. In the position of FIG. 4, the guard rail 40a covers the channel 4 and prevent the cigarette from falling from the case 15 into the channel 4. However, when the pusher 38 moves to push the cigarette out of the holder 17, the pusher carries the guard 40 and its rail 40a to the right (in FIG. 8). The rail 40a thereby uncovers channel 4 and simultaneously serves as a guard to prevent the cigarette from being pushed over the right side wall of channel 4.

Just as the cigarette is pushed out of the holder 17 and into the guide 4, the yoke 34 has pivoted (counterclockwise in FIG. 8) to a position where the fixed pin 66 a'buts against one side of pivoted lever 64, as is shown in FIG. 9. A slight further counterclockwise (FIG. 8) pivoting of yoke 34 Wild result in pin 66 forcing lever 64 to pivot clockwise about pivot 63 (FIG. 9) and thereby to push L-shaped element 61 downwardly. Downward movement of element 61 will cause it to lose contact with the end 68 of the pusher 38, this permitting spring 67 to return the pusher 38 to the position shown in FIG. 4.

In the meantime, cam 41 will have turned to a position where it pivots the lower release lever 42 which thereby disengages latch means 3 from tooth 2. This will result in the rod 1 being pushed by the spring 46 in a direction away from the contact device for a very short distance, i.e., until the latch means 44 engages the tooth 45. In this position of the rod 1, the contact device 5 remains closed, but the tooth 2 is in the path of movement of the latch means 3 so that if the latch means 3 were now released it would abut against the edge of tooth 2 and not be able to lockingly engage the tooth 2.

A slight further rotation of the gear train A will pivot cam 41 so that it will abut the upper release lever 43 and cause it to disengage the second latch means 44 from the second tooth 45 whereby the spring 46 will push the rod 1 outwardly (i.e., downwardly in FIG. 1) and the ejector 47, which is fixedly attached to rod 1, will eject the cigarette from the left end of guide 4. A suitable receiving means or stop means 70 can be provided at the end of guide 4 to prevent the cigarette from dropping onto the floor.

The motor now stops and the device is ready for anothercigarette to be lit. In the stopped position, lever 43 is engaged by cam 41 so that latch 44 is held out of the path of tooth 45. Lever 42, on the other hand, is not engaged by cam 41, so that latch 3 is ready to engage tooth 2 as soon as rod 1 is pushed inwardly.

If only one latch device such as 44 were provided, it

would be necessary to hold rod 1 inwardly by hand until cam 41 disengaged from lever 43 because the motor and gears have stopped with latch 44 releasing lever 1. Instead, with the additional latch device 3, lever 42 is. first disengaged from cam 41, thereby releasing latch 3, while latch 44 still holds rod 1 and permits the cycle to be completed. Then, after the cycle has been completed by release of latch 44 and the motor has stopped, rod 1 can immediately be inwardly locked by latch 3 which is free.

In FIG. 4, the. solid line positions of elements 34, 36,

36a represent the stopped position of the apparatus. 1m

position shown in FIG. 4, to pull leg 34b and associated element 36, 36a to the dashed line position of FIG.

4. This therefore immediately clamps the cigarette in the holder 17 so that it is ready to be engaged by the igniter 7 and the pufier 19. The gripper plate 36 serves to hold the cigarette and prevent it from sticking to either the putter or the igniter while those elements move apart from each other.

The cigarette case 15 comprises a fixed inclined frame 48 into which slidingly fits a removable tray 49. Frame 48 is fixedly mounted to base C by means of column 48a. Holes 14 in tray 49 are aligned with corresponding holes in the frame when the tray is inserted in the frame. A pivoted cover plate 71 serves to hold the cigarettes down in the tray. Barrier 16 is located to one side of the holes and on the bottom of the tray. The front wall of the tray comprises a threaded screw 50 which regulates the position of plate 51 to accommodate different length cigarettes, e.g., either regular, filter, king size or any other type of cigarette.

The device can be provided with an indicator light 52 to indicate that the motor is running.

It is understood that the device is susceptible of a number of modifications relative to the preferred embodiment disclosed herein without departing from the inventive concept of the disclosed invention whose .breadth and scope is meant to be limited only by the following claims.

What is claimed is:

1. An automatic cigarette lighter comprising an 'air puffing means and an igniter means, both said means being spaced from each other and arranged so as to accommodate a cigarette between them, both said means i being axially aligned and alternately movable relative to each other towards and away from eachother, and wherein said pufiing means comprises a puffing cylinder connected to an air pump, and both said .means are.

operatively connected to a gear means which efliects the aforementioned movement of said pufiing and igniter means, and further comprising a driving means, an actuator rod biased to an outward position, a first latch means adapted to hold said rod in an inward position, said driving means being started by said rod in said inward position, said driving means being operatively.

connected to said gear means and to said pump.

2. The lighter of claim 1, comprising a cam means operatively connected to and driven by said driving means,

said cam means operatively engaging a first lever which operatively engages said first latch means, said cam means being adapted to move said lever so as to cause.

4. The lighter of claim 3, comprising an ejector element I attached to said rod and movable therewith, said ejector element extending across one end of a cigarette guide, said guide being adjacent said cigarette holder, said pushing element being adapted to push a cigarette from said holder into said guide when said pushing element moves transversely of said holder, the portion of said ejector element extending across said guide being adapted to engage one end of a cigarette in said guide and to push said cigarette along said guide when said rod is released from said latch means and said rod moves to its outward biased position.

5. The lighter of claim 2, comprising a second latch means adapted to hold said rod in an inward position, a second lever operatively connected to said cam means and to said second latch means whereby said earn means upon being driven by said driving means moves said second lever which in turn releases said second latch means from said rod, said cam means being arranged to effect release of said first latchi means before it effects release of said second latch means through the respective said first and second levers, and said calm means disengaging said first lever when said second latch means is released from said rod.

6. The lighter of claim 1, comprising a cigarette case, said case comprising an inclined frame and a removable tray within said rarne,-said tray and frame having aligned openings, said tray having a barrier to one side of and adjacent to said openings, a movable cigarette lifter having a portion protruding upwardly and in line with said openings, said rod being operatively associated with said lifter so as to move said lifter and thereby cause said upwardly protruding portion to move through said openings when said rod is moved to its inward position, said tray having an open side located above and adjacent to said cigarette holder.

7. The lighter of claim 3, comprising a gripping means located above said holder and adapted to hold a cigarette in said holder, said gripping :means being operatively connected to said driving means.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,993,504 3/1935 Eiler 222-- 2,112,657 3/1938 Randazzo 221-144 2,115,099 4/1938 Ferguson 221144 2,132,771 10/1938 Aronson 219-261 2,182,955 12/1939 Allen 221145 2,232,125 2/1941 McChristian 221145 2,528,500 1/1948 Davis 219-261 2,878,960 3/ 1959 Holtsch 221145 2,936,930 5/1960 R-ott et a1. 219261 FOREIGN PATENTS 817,827 11/1951 Germany.

ROBERT B. REEV-ES, Primary Examiner.

WALTER SOBIN, EVON C. BLUNK, Examiners. 

1. AN AUTOMATIC CIGARETTE LIGHTER COMPRISING AN AIR PUFFING MEANS AND AN IGNITER MEANS, BOTH SAID MEANS BEING SPACED FROM EACH OTHER AND ARRANGED SO AS TO ACCOMMODATE A CIGARETTE BETWEEN THEM, BOTH SAID MEANS BEING AXIALLY ALIGNED AND ALTERNATELY MOVABLE RELATIVE TO EACH OTHER TOWARDS AND AWAY FROM EACH OTHER, AND WHEREIN SAID PUFFING MEANS COMPRISES A PUFFING CYLINDER CONNECTED TO AN AIR PUMP, AND BOTH SAID MEANS ARE OPERATIVELY CONNECTED TO A GEAR MEANS WHICH EFFECTS THE AFOREMENTIONED MOVEMENT OF SAID PUFFING AND IGNITER MEANS, AND FURTHER COMPRISING A DRIVING MEANS, AN ACTUATOR ROD BIASED TO AN OUTWARD POSITION, A FIRST LATCH 